FORGING FORGING FREEDOM FREEDOM A Tr u e S t o r y o f H e r o i s m during the Holocaust b y H u d s o n Ta l b o t t
SHABBAS HELPER Amsterdam 1930 aap Penraat knew how to turn a challenge into an adventure April had come to Amsterdam making his route home from the market into a maze of vegetable carts and flower stalls He had just five minutes to run through the course holding a pickle in one hand and a bundle of eels in the other Otherwise his neighbors would be sitting in the dark Nothing could stop him now Except perhaps Mrs Greenberg Jaapy called the neighbor lady Your poor mother’s going hoarse from calling you It’s Friday you know and you’re coming right But be quiet because Ira is having a gallstone and Jaap nodded and raced onward The sun was just sinking behind the rooftops when he ran through the kitchen door Well it’s about time said Jaap’s mother taking the eels from him Mr Mandelbaum was just here looking for you You know they’re on the dark side of the building You’d better do their lights first I always do said Jaap catching his breath I like Mr Mandelbaum He has the best stories And the best cookies For the Jewish families in Jaap’s apartment building the Sabbath began with the Friday sunset They honored it by not working not even flipping a light switch Since Jaap wasn’t Jewish he could turn on the lights for his
neighbors They paid him in sweets and gave him an important-sounding title He was their Shabbas Goy The Mandelbaums table was set and dinner simmering on the stove when Jaap knocked on their door He knew which lamps they wanted lit and quietly set to his task Do you know why we ask you to turn on our lights Jaapy Mr Mandelbaum asked setting a dish of macaroons on the table So you can see where you’re going Jaap answered Well yes in a way you could say that said the old man We are going where our traditions lead us Whatever the tradition is even a little thing like not turning a light switch on the Sabbath it matters that we follow it The traditions tell us who we are Our rabbi always says More than the Jews have kept the Sabbath the Sabbath has kept the Jews Now do you know why you do it For the cookies said Jaap The old man chuckled You may think you do it for the cookies but I see something else in you You’re a good soul You like doing mitzvahs What are mitzfers asked Jaap A mitzvah is a good deed a kindness Doing something nice for someone just because it feels like the right thing to do He patted the boy’s head and offered him the cookies Thank you Mr Mandelbaum said Jaap heading toward the door Same time next week Sure Jaapy Jaap headed upstairs and knocked on the Cohens door Mr Cohen his wife Rose and his younger brother Ben were having a loud discussion 7
